The Key to a Long Life: Conscientious Habits

By Philip Moeller Philip Moeller
–
Fri Apr 8, 11:12 am ET
Long before the age of gene therapy and miracle
medical treatments, the secrets of long life were being gathered and
revealed in a unique study of 1,500 children born about 1910. By
studying these people throughout their lives, successive generations of
researchers collected nearly 10 million pieces of observable data and
have been able to produce solid insights into human longevity.
"Most people who live to an old age do so not because
they have beaten cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or lung disease;
rather, the long-lived have mostly avoided serious ailments altogether,"
according to Howard S. Friedman and Leslie R. Martin, in their recent
book, "The Longevity Project."
"The best childhood personality predictor of
longevity was conscientiousness--the qualities of a prudent, persistent,
well organized person," according to the two professors (he at the
University of California--Riverside, and she at La Sierra University).
"Conscientiousness . . . also turned out to be the best personality
predictor of long life when measured in adulthood." Their book chronicles research begun in 1921 by Lewis
Terman, a Stanford University psychologist who selected 1,500 bright
and generally high performing children and began amassing detailed
information about their personal histories, health, activities, beliefs,
attitudes, families, and other variables. Over the next eight decades, other academics
maintained the Terman Project and assembled exhaustive details on all
facets of the original subjects' later lives. It is this unique depth of
detail that has permitted Friedman and Martin to reach what they feel
are scientifically sound conclusions about what it takes to live a long
life. "It was not cheerfulness and it was not having a
sociable personality that predicted long life across the many ensuing
decades," they wrote. "Certain other factors were also relevant, but the
prudent, dependable children lived the longest. The strength of this
finding was unexpected, but it proved to be a very important and
enduring one."
The book presents three reasons why conscientious people live longer: They are more likely to obey the rules, protecting
their health, and not engaging in risky behaviors such as smoking or
driving without a seat belt. If a doctor tells them to take a medicine,
they take every prescribed dose. "Conscientious individuals are less prone to a
whole host of diseases, not just those caused by dangerous habits," they
found. "It appears likely that conscientious and unconscientious people
have different levels of certain chemicals in their brains." "The most intriguing reason conscientious people
live longer is that having a conscientious personality leads you into
healthier situations and relationships," the research concluded. "They
find their way to happier marriages, better friendships, and healthier
work situations."
Many of the subjects of the Terman Project faced
difficult challenges in their adult lives, including bitter combat in
World War II, divorces, stressful jobs, and career reversals.
Conscientious people had the ability to weather these problems. They
displayed "self healing" personalities that helped them find their ways
back to healthy lifestyle paths. People without such behavioral traits
and healthy coping skills didn't fare as well and were often unable to
bounce back.
Other strong longevity traits, Friedman and Martin
say, include strong connections with other people and groups, either
through marriage or outside activities. Also, "those with the most
career success were the least likely to die young. In fact, on average
the most successful men lived five years longer than the least
successful." While happiness was not a cause of longer life, "the sense
of being satisfied with one's life and achievement was very relevant to
resilience."
The 10 questions used to create a personality
scale that will help determine how conscientious you are. The scale is
based on work done by Terman, the book's authors, and other research. (see below)

1. I am always prepared.
2. I leave my belongings around.
3. I enjoy planning my work in detail.
4. I make a mess of things.

5. I get chores done right awa y.
6. I often forget to put things back in proper place.
7. I like order.
8. I shirk my duties.
9. I follow a schedule.
10. I am persistent in the accomplishment of my work and ends.

Scoring for questions 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10: Each answer is worth one
to five points, matching the numbers of the answers (one point for very
inaccurate, two points for moderately inaccurate, and so forth, up to
five points for very accurate). For questions 2, 4, and 6, reverse the
scoring order (one point for very accurate, two points for moderately
accurate, and so on, up to five points for very inaccurate).
Total scores can range from a low of 10 to a high of 50. "This score is a
good measure of conscientiousness," the book says. "Total scores
between 10 and 24 indicate very low conscientiousness . . . Scores
between 37 and 50 suggest exceptionally high conscientiousness."
SNow, the good and bad news about how conscientious you are is that you
can change your personality, but you can't invent a new one overnight.
The highly conscientious people in the Terman study had little clue that
such behavior would be associated with living a very long life. They
behaved this way in their everyday lives because it came naturally.
"It doesn't matter how many New Year's resolutions you make," the book
said. "In fact, rapid and pervasive changes are usually quickly
abandoned by anyone undertaking them. Lasting adjustments happen with
smaller, but progressive, steps."
Medical treatment is conspicuously absent from the book's longevity
findings. "So-called modern medical cures have played a relatively minor
role in increasing adult life span," the authors wrote. "Social
relations should be the first place to look for improving health and
longevity."
Twitter: @PhilMoeller